The Pinball Wizard
by Voltage Axe
Summary: After struggling with a particular arcade game, she finds help, unexpectedly, from him. A short Gruvia story, but also includes the pairings of NaLu, Gajevy, and Jerza. Read and review!


**Author's Note:** The idea for this story simply came, when I was listening to a song from The Who, one of my favourite classic rock bands out there. As for the pairings in this story, the main focus will be on Gruvia, but it will also prominently feature NaLu, Gajevy, and Jerza. With all that being said, enjoy this short story!

 **Author's Note 2:** A shout-out to randomteenager, BonneyQ, and all the other Gruvia writers, for their contributions...and for inspiring me to write more FT fanfics!

 **Disclaimer:** The characters and everything else in Fairy Tail are from Hiro Mashima, the author of the manga. Also, Pac-Man is from Namco.

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 **Voltage Axe Presents**

 _ **The Pinball Wizard**_

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Electronic chimes sounded through the speakers of the glass-covered cabinet rhythmically, according to each and every strike of the chrome ball that was against the surface of the bumpers and targets on the playfield. The small sphere of metal rolled around from left and right, bouncing off the flippers, going across the ramps, passing through spinners, and the like. After a particularly hard bounce that went off a saucer, the metal ball had somehow skimmed through down the space in between the two flippers at the bottom, ending the game in a display of flashing lights.

There was then a voice that buzzed out of the same speakers, but in a very goofy tone. _"Try your best next time…thanks for playing!"_

A young female figure then inserted a coin into the pinball machine's slot, activating a new game. Pulling the plunger as far back as she could, the ball was launched with much force upon the release of the handle. The electronic chimes sounded out again, the sharp and dull pings reminiscent to that of a xylophone. Her azure eyes tracked the moving sphere, doing her best to keep it into play, bouncing it off of the flippers that she controlled with the presses of the buttons. However, her efforts still weren't enough to prevent the ball from coming down the middle in between those two flippers, occurring on all three plays she was given for the game.

The same, goofy voice had emanated from the speakers, blurting out a different line. _"Hey, you tried your best out there, but you can try harder next time!"_

Her eyes peered at the small panel display on the machine's back-glass, which read out the high-scores of each player in red pixels. There was a name that flashed repeatedly on the list of players and their score numbers, somewhere in the middle. The name in flashing red had belonged to that of _Juvia Lockser_.

Juvia glared at the arcade cabinet with narrowed eyes, a pout on her face, looking as if she intended to hit the machine out of pure spite. She then released her breath quietly, the blue-haired water mage turning around to find her other guild-mates having fun of their own. After a gruelling journey spent on completing a mission at a small town in Fiore, they had all settled at a coin-operated arcade somewhere in Magnolia, taking out all the stress that burdened them, and replacing it with the euphoria and excitement of playing some games.

Scanning her eyes around the place, Juvia could first see her close friend and former member of the Phantom Lord right beside a shorter, blue-haired female. The iron dragon slayer was operating a video arcade cabinet, moving the stick with the big red knob around. Levy watched him play the game next to him with great interest, looking rather impressed with the way he played it. The video game that Gajeel was playing on the large and bulky machine, as Juvia could tell from the name plastered on the cabinet's exterior, was Pac-Man.

Continuing to glance at the couple, she could notice Gajeel turning to Levy as soon as he completed a level in the game, giving a little smile at her. Levy returned the direct stare at him, smiling brightly and having a quick laugh. The iron dragon slayer chuckled in response, before he wrapped an arm around the petite female, pulling her close to him as he started to play the new level of the game.

Juvia smiled sweetly at the wonderful sight of them bonding together, before her attention was taken away by another male laughing boisterously. She spun her head around to look at a trio of figures that were by a claw machine.

It was a pink-haired dragon slayer who was joined with a blonde girl right by him, also accompanied with a winged blue cat flying around and over their heads. Observing them, she saw Lucy pointing at a stuffed animal inside a glass cage filled with many of them. Natsu took notice of this, and put in a coin to activate the arcade game. Happy and the blonde celestial mage watched closely, as Natsu worked his skills, trying to get the claw crane to snag the particular prize that Lucy wanted. He had only less than a couple of seconds to spare, before he caught the stuffed animal with the metal claw, and retrieved it back to drop it down into the large chute below. All three of them celebrated with joy as Lucy pulled out from the hatch, a dragon plush toy that was of a red and white colour. The blonde girl then wrapped her arms around Natsu, hugging him tightly while he held the stuffed dragon, before giving him an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

The water mage then could hear what Happy had to say about all of this, quietly sniggering behind his paws. "They _llllliiiiiike_ each other!"

Juvia then finally turned her focus on another pair that was located in the nearby distance, in front of her. She could see the re-quip mage, in her usual armour of wear, having a match at a billiards table with Jellal. Based on the very confident look that Erza had on her face, and the flustered expression on the blue-haired male's face that was full of chagrin, Juvia could tell that the red-headed female was winning—if not, _dominating_ this match.

She looked back at the arcade machine she was previously playing, dejectedly bowing her head with a frown on her lips. Everybody else that she looked at, was having the time of their lives, playing these kinds of games together. She started to wonder in her mind, what was missing from having the joyful experience that was somehow absent for her.

Just as she kept thinking deep into the back of her head of about why that was, she had suddenly felt a presence that was approaching towards her, being very close to her as possible. A gruff male voice called out her name, forcing her to turn around and face this person who spoke of her name in particular.

She held her gasp upon seeing the dark-haired male she'd always adore in her heart, the silver cross of his necklace sparkling brightly off the lights in the ceiling. Her eyes nearly widened at Gray Fullbuster, who was standing in front of her plain view, in his butterfly shirt.

"Oi, Juvia," he merely smiled.

"G-Gray-sama," she stumbled in her response, a tinge of red across her face. "W-what brings you here?"

Gray turned his head around to look elsewhere, crossing his arms, before turning back towards her. "I couldn't help but notice that you were struggling with the pinball game," he murmured, and then paused awkwardly for a short second. "And I was wondering if I could help you on that one."

The blush on her cheeks had intensified right away, but she could already tell somewhat that there was a lighter shade of red across his face as well, when he asked if he could help play for her.

She quietly responded. "F-for Juvia?"

"Yeah." He firmly nodded, shifting his eyes away from her. "I'm actually better at playing this kind of game."

Juvia fidgeted her fingers, looking away from him shyly. "Then, maybe Gray-sama can show Juvia how it's done?"

Gray turned to stare at her again, his smile slowly widening. "Sure…just watch me."

The blue-haired mage allowed him to move over towards the pinball machine, Gray inserting a coin into the slot. Juvia watched him closely, as he started the game with the pull of the plunger. She was quite amazed to see him become so focused into the game itself, reacting accordingly to where he thought the ball was going. It was rather surprising, however, to know how talented he was at this game. She heard stories from Natsu and Erza in their conversations about how much he did well in pinball, but nothing much like this. Sure, there were games that they played like billiards, where some of them were alright at best—including Gray, but she'd never seen him play a game of pinball in person before.

That sweet smile she had on her face had shown up again, and her affectionate eyes becoming even more so, at the man she truly knew and loved. His concentration was still unbroken, as he continued to bounce the ball off the two flippers, making it create a continuous chain of hits off of the targets and bumpers. Even when he'd lost the ball and again, from a misplay of sorts, he'd get back into the rhythm of the game right away. He'd look even more determined than before, keeping the way that he usually played it. Juvia was very greatly impressed at the way he played the game, as she continued to watch him in comfortable silence.

When the ball had suddenly reached a hole in the playfield that trapped it for a moment, there was electronic warbling in the form of blaring whoops echoing through the speakers, accompanying the lights that flashed frantically all over the playable area.

Gray could tell what those sounds and flashing lights actually were. "Juvia," he quickly asked, his eyes still locked at the game, "do you know the highest score in this game?"

"It's 50 million," she simply answered. "Why?"

Without warning, there were now multiple steel balls rolling all over the playfield. Juvia gasped to herself, surprised to see this kind of challenge pop-up at random timing. But it was a challenge that the ice mage wasn't afraid of taking on, having known from his experience at playing this arcade game.

He continued to operate the large machine as he usually did, playing with several balls, instead of only one. Maintaining his calm and collective demeanour, Gray bounced off the steel spheres with the flippers, all the while racking up score multipliers and a whole more bunch of points. Despite his best efforts to keep all of the balls into play, they had snuck past and around the flippers to fall down the drain, one-by-one. All but one ball was now in play, and he had to keep that one alive, in order to keep on going.

To the water mage, however, it was alright. She had already seen the skill that he had to help her with this game, through her loving eyes.

Gray faintly noticed that he was now closing in on the highest score of the game, a few thousand points within reach of matching that score, and potentially overtaking it. Juvia gazed at the playfield right next to him, watching as he carefully read the direction of where the lone ball was moving, so that he could make the next few moves. Making precise actions at the right timing, Gray was able to get the ball to bounce off a few bumpers and saucers, ensuring that he had matched the top score.

' _Just going to launch the ball off the flippers'_ , he thought, about to push the two buttons at the right timing, _'and then I will—'_

Before the dark-haired mage even knew it, the lights and sounds of the game suddenly went away, and the flippers on the playfield having been rendered immobile in that instant. He froze in both complete shock and surprise, eyes widened in horror and blinking, as he heard the metal ball skim and roll down into the drain. What happened? He was so close to beating the top high score!

Gray then heard a male chuckling mischievously near him, making his knuckles turn white at that familiar sound. He looked up and turned to look at Natsu, who had just pulled the plug on the machine while the ice mage had been so busy being fixated into the game. Gray's eyes shot angrily at him, as he laughed.

"Hey, ice princess!" The pink-haired dragon slayer called out, a smug grin on his face. "What're you playin'?"

Gray roared in response. " _Natsu, you goddamn fire-breathing moron!_ " He clenched his fists tightly, standing in front of Juvia, who was to his left. "I was trying to help someone with that game!"

"Natsu," Lucy chided him, frowning, "that's not nice!"

"Oh, what's that ice-prick going to do?" Natsu sneered, having turned around to directly face her. "It's just a stupid game that he's always playing—"

Just as he turned his head back around, his face was met with a flying fist that felt very cold to the touch. The punch had sent the dragon slayer flying right into the claw machine, destroying the entire contraption with only the force of his body slamming against it. It was fortunate for him that he landed on top of a pile consisting of the many stuffed animals that spilled away from the damaged machine.

Natsu then leapt off of the pile, and back onto his feet, growling furiously. " _WHAT THE HELL, GRAY?!_ "

The dark-haired ice mage gave a smug grin of his own. "That's what you get for ruining what was a sure thing!"

Juvia quietly murmured from behind him. "Gray-sama…"

Her voice caught his attention, Gray turning his eyes to hers, in which they softened slightly. "Juvia."

"Juvia wants to say that she was impressed by the way Gray-sama played," the water mage fidgeted her fingers as she softly spoke, "a-and, because of that…J-Juvia l-loves—"

She was then interrupted by Natsu suddenly lunging out and throwing a fist back at the unsuspected Gray, sending the ice mage flying towards a pair of arcade machines near where Gajeel and Levy were.

" _Gray-sama!_ " Juvia screeched, her eyes bulging out of her sockets.

Gray groaned out as he lifted himself off of the obliterated gaming machines, before he stood back up on his feet, and shook his head briefly. He was about retaliate against the fiery dragon slayer, before he heard someone shout from behind them.

" _OI!_ " Gajeel barked angrily, Levy by his side. "You're scaring the heck out of the Shrimp! I've had enough with the both of you ruining our fun!"

Levy was about to complain loudly at the iron dragon slayer for using that word to describe her, just before Gajeel stepped in to interfere with the two confronting mages. It was not long before he got into the fight between the two, resulting in punches being thrown, bodies flying into the other arcade games—and destroying them in the process, and a whole bunch of obscenities being shouted loudly amidst the brawling. Juvia and Lucy had just stood there, watching them spar away in the arcade, while Happy just hovered in the air beside them.

"Gray-sama," Juvia breathed out sadly.

"Oh no," Lucy sighed dejectedly, " _not again…_ "

" _Aye,_ " the Exceed agreed in the same tone as the blonde.

Juvia continued to watch, as the dust-up had made its way into another part of the arcade. She could then see Gajeel being flung towards the billiards table that Erza and Jellal were occupying. He landed hard on the table, breaking it apart in two, and nearly landing on top of the blue-haired male. Erza shrieked, before becoming very livid at the brawling boys, getting herself into their fight. The water mage winced, as the red-headed female finally put both of them out from fighting even further. Her blue eyes focused on the ice mage himself, still knocked out by the re-quip mage, along with Natsu. There was a sweet smile on her face, as she locked her gaze at him.

While the whole group would have to pay the repair bills for damaging all of those machines (and, thankfully, not the whole building itself), _and_ getting themselves banned from the arcade as well, Juvia could not help but think that she had quite a fun time with Gray. He showed her of what he could do aside from just fighting, and it gave an even greater impression of him than what she had before.

In her own eyes, maybe he really was the pinball wizard that a couple of her guild-mates had made him out to be.

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 **Originally, I wanted to put this story out on Gruvia Day. However, I had finished writing this story the day after that, when some things unexpectedly came up. But anyway, this is just one of the many stories I have thought about writing, but never got around to do so, until later. You can expect to see more stories like this one, as I do have more ideas to be used for the time being.**

 **Until then, stay tuned!**


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